A Quick Weekend Checklist for Business Owners

It’s finally time to enjoy your weekend but you’re feeling guilty for taking the time off. When you’re a business owner, work never really stops. The weekends are typically spent catching up from last week, working ahead for next week, or working on things you don’t have time for during the week, such as new marketing strategies or your long-term goals.

When you already work long hours, you’re tired from managing your employees, and you’re overwhelmed with payroll, the weekends seem to disappear for you without much thought. While you’re busy wearing all the hats and spending all day every day handling your business, it’s time to rethink how you’re spending your downtime. Take your weekends back by focusing on a few specific business tasks while allowing your mind and body to recover for a new week ahead.

Take some time to get organized

Once the weekend hits, you have to look at the week as you’ve given it your all and what can you do better or different next week. Get yourself organized for the week ahead by sorting through your paperwork, making a to-do list, and cleaning up your inbox.

You need to focus on having a clean desk in front of you while also taking the time to have a clean digital desk as well. Organize your files, emails, and documents while cleaning up a cluttered desk. It may mean you need to get that paperwork in the mail on the way home or it may mean actually spring cleaning your office because it’s so overdue. Make each weekend a time to refresh and reorganize your work.

Better priorities for your week

You may get distracted easily thinking about the future of your business, thinking about tasks you haven’t completed yet, or thinking about other irrelevant tasks. You need to use your time more wisely so that you don’t find yourself playing catch up each weekend. It may be time to get a virtual task assistant such as Evernote or Trello. They work to help you with your to-do list, remind you what is the most important, and set deadlines for tasks.

Automation and monthly reviews

It’s time to start automating or outsourcing your work. Hire more employees or in most cases, choose the more cost-effective option of hiring a virtual assistant. They can start helping you with your calendar, taking messages for you to return at a better time, or help you to sort through your inbox. Start automating repetitive tasks with software or apps so that you can stop sending the same “thank you” email to customers and start allowing the computer to send that perfect one you’ve already created to every customer.

Are you reviewing your efficiency and how effective your work is every so often? It’s time to start doing a monthly review of your performance to see if you can make some changes. Have a statistical analysis done every month to see if there is a trend in your workflow. Perhaps you or your staff is spending too long on emails or too long answering phone calls preventing time to handle projects.

Reduce your emails

It’s time to really clean up your inbox. Get everything deleted, sorted, and responded to over the weekend. Start unsubscribing to emails that are wasting your time and create folders to sort the emails you need to access later. It’s a good time to get your inbox to zero before Monday.

Use these tips and you can make your weekend more effective, less stressful, and set yourself up for a fresh start every Monday. Spend your downtime relaxing, enjoying a hobby, and enjoying the company of others so that you can spark your creativity and give your mind a break.

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